


Flash Fanfiction - Episode 29 - King Shark

by Mindmarvel



Series: Flash Fanfic Introducing Mind Marvel [29]
Category: The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 23:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13985664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindmarvel/pseuds/Mindmarvel
Summary: When King Shark goes loose on Central City, he captures Barry, Cisco and Iris, leaving Astrid and the rest of the team to find them. But then things get a little difficult when the military get involved.





	1. Chapter 1

"Cisco breach to West Street, cut them off at the entrance… Barry needs a distraction, quick!" Astrid called out through the microphone at the computer at STAR Labs. Caitlin and Harry were standing behind her, it was clear that Astrid was using her mind control, as opposed to Central City's maps on the screen.  
"Wait, you're using me as bait?" Cisco called back through the speakers. He and Barry were currently stopping a gang of meta-humans who were robbing a bank.  
"Come on, Vibe… you love being bait!" Barry replied.

"Yeah, you got me there… Hey… morons! Over here! Yeah that's right, I bet you can't catch me! I'm over here… Now I'm over here!" it was clear that he was disappearing and reappearing through breaches.  
"Alright boys! You got them, now round em' up!" Astrid said. She was currently in both Barry's and Cisco's mind at once. "Barry, watch your left flank!" she called out as a reaction.  
"Woah, that was close!" Barry replied.

"Hey, how did she know that?" Cisco asked Barry, "Astrid! Quit using your powers! Focus on the screen!"  
Astrid looked over at Caitlin and mouthed "oops!" that she had been caught using her telepathic abilities.  
"Alright! We got them! We're on our…" before Barry could finish his sentence, Astrid saw the hybrid creature that he and Cisco were both seeing.  
"Woah! It's a street shark!" Cisco said in shock.  
"A street shark?" Caitlin asked, confused.

"It's a half man half shark, an old TV series…" Astrid said, "You guys! Come on! Get him!" The 'street shark' had picked up a civilian in one hand and was shaking him.  
"Oh right!" Barry replied, he had been standing in shock staring up at the beast. He ran to the being and begun punching him at super speed. It had been the perfect distraction for the shark man to drop the civilian, who ran to safety.

Cisco shot a blast of energy at the being, but it didn't impact him in the slightest. "Oh, crap!" he said.  
"Come on, guys!" Harry said, "Just breach him over to STAR Labs pipeline so we can study him and be done with it."  
"That's a little hard, Harry." Barry replied.  
"Yeah, he has our speedster." Cisco replied.

"Cisco, distract him, shoot another blast!" Caitlin said with concern in her voice.  
"Yeah… that's what I'm doing! It's not working! He just keeps regenerating.  
"Breach me over!" Astrid said, "I can do it!"

"That ain't happening… The last thing we need right now is for you to cause yourself to lose your mind, Caitlin… tell her!" Cisco called out.  
"He's right! It's too risky!" Caitlin said.

"Wait, you guys, I'm free!" Barry replied, he had managed to get out of the shark man's grip, but before he could make another move, the shark had disappeared again.  
"Really? He has super speed too?" Astrid groaned, "Great… Have I ever told you guys how much I hate sharks?"  
Barry and Cisco returned back to STAR Labs, very frustrated. "That hombre was not just any shark… he was a street shark, no a meta-shark… no… A King Shark… yeah, that's his name and I'm sticking by it!"

"So, does anyone know how to take down a King Shark with super strength, regeneration, and super speed? Because that thing is currently loose in Central City and clearly… he doesn't need water to survive," Barry asked them as they entered the cortex. They were all stumped and equally just as frightened.  
"See, that's why I hate Jaws. The shark, not the movie," Cisco said, "did you know that sharks have a keen sense of sme…" He raised his eyebrows, "Hey, Barry… did it seem like he had super sense of smell?"

"I couldn't tell… But if he does, we're in trouble." Barry said.  
"Guys, He could just be brute strength. I could fry his brain. He'll be nothing but an oversized goldfish!" Astrid added in.  
"No!" they all told her at once.

"Astrid, you're always telling us not to be so reckless." Caitlin said, "For you to preform your mind scream on something so strong, it could destroy your brain, you know that. Even with the control that your bracelet gives you, you could be taking a major risk using too much of your mental energy."  
"That includes getting into our heads during battles." Cisco added in.

"That's just passive energy… like breathing, it really doesn't take a lot of effort. It's like watching TV." Astrid replied. "But, okay… I got it… no mind scream…"  
"Barry… I'm surprised that you managed to break free from King Shark's clutches so easily," Harry said, "How did you manage that?"  
"I phased through his grip!' Barry announced.

"But, he wouldn't have let you go so easily, something so powerful could have killed you within minutes." DR Wells said.  
"I get what you're saying… that maybe he let me escape."  
"Let you escape?" Cisco said, his eyes wide. "Guys, I think we're going to need a bigger boat!"


	2. Chapter 2

"West!" Scott Evans, the editor in chief, barked out from amongst the bustle in Picture News, "You were hired at Picture News for your ability to blog the Flash, and right now we have a large shark-man wreaking havoc on Central City. If you want to be promoted from coffee girl to someone who actually makes a difference for this newspaper… I want you out there reporting on this!"

Iris, who had been standing by one of the desks with a tray of coffees opened her eyes wide. She placed the tray down on the desks. "I'll get right on it, Scott!" she said excitedly.  
She raced over to her desk, grabbed a note pad, a pen and her purse and ran back up to Scott! "You won't regret this, Sir!" she said excitedly.

"I better not. And I want as much on the Flash as you can get. Chances are that he and his little sidekicks are going to have something big planned to defeat that beast. I want you to get the full scoop! Now GO!" Iris raced out of Picture News and into the chaotic streets of Central City, ready to make a start on her first actual article for Picture News.

"What about a big gun?" Harry asked the group as they were still trying to strategize a way to hunt down King Shark. Astrid had ordered an entire facility shut down of STAR Labs, so they could determine the best approach to handle the beast and her employees would not be hurt. The group were currently standing around the cortex frustrated.

"Harry, I don't think the thermo-gun is going to cut it this time," Barry said, "His regeneration rate was astonishing."  
"Harry's right…" Cisco said, "Yes, Harry… I said you're right… no need to gasp… But we're not talking about the thermo-gun, I'm talkin about a mighty big tranquilizer… like we did with Grodd. But we'd have to upgrade it for rapid fire." He ran off to begin the upgrades on his usual one.

"I apologize for the intrusion team, but it appears that Wally West is asking to be buzzed in." Gideon said over the lot of them.  
"Yeah, buzz him in, Gideon…" Astrid replied. She was still annoyed that her friends would not allow her to use her own powers.  
The elevator doors opened and Wally walked in. "Did you guys know that there is a big street shark out there?" he asked them.  
"Cisco's named him King Shark." Barry replied.

"So, you guys know and you're not doing anything about him? Aren't you guys meant to be the ones that normally deal with this sort of thing? Dad called and this guy has taken out multiple cops already." They could hear that Wally was concerned.

"That's why STAR Labs is on lock down. Cisco is currently upgrading his tranquliser as we speak." Caitlin said. "It's good to see you, Wally. Despite the circumstances."  
Astrid ran a mental scan of Central City. Her objective was to keep an eye on where the shark was at all times. She could see that he was in the city's square. She was sickened to her stomach as she watched him eat a civilian.

"Eugh…" she groaned out loud, clutching at her stomach. She had seen the image as if it were happening right in front of her.  
"Are you alright?" Caitlin asked her, "You don't look so good."  
"He just ate somebody…" she said, she ran towards Caitlin's medical bay sink and vomited. The grotesque sight of King Shark eating an innocent person had overwhelmed her to the fullest.

"He eats people? This is worse than any shark movie!" Caitlin groaned.  
"Alright… this baby is set to rapid fire." Cisco said as he returned holding the oversized weapon.  
"He's in the city's square. Alright, Bar." Astrid said, as she drank some water, "You distract him, Cisco will take him down… Do you think that you guys can manage that without getting eaten?"

"Eaten?" Cisco asked her, he had not heard her earlier conversation, "he eats people?"  
"He's a shark, Cisco. Of course he eats people." Harry replied, a little unnerved.  
"Woah, man… I don't envy either one of you right now." Wally said.

"Yeah… no! I don't envy us either!" Cisco replied, fixing his goggles in place. "But, we gotta try! Are ya ready, Barry?" He asked, raising his hand and forming a breach.  
"As ready as I'll ever be!" Barry replied, he put his mask back on, as Cisco connected his communicator in place and stepped through the breach, making their way to the middle of the city.

"I got no spit…" Cisco mumbled as the two of them were a little intimidated by the sight that met them. They were met by the sight of hundreds of people running to safety from the large King Shark that could eat them, at any minute.  
"No spit?" Barry asked.

"No spit…" Cisco shook his head, ""Hey, Flash… do you think Astrid will mind if we breach these guys to STAR labs for safety?" Cisco asked.  
"Not if it's to the lower floors. You breach, I'll run at him!" Barry ran towards the shark, his heart pounding in his chest. He begun to run rings around King Shark, knowing that if he stopped, the beast would catch him.

"Got it! Main hall should be perfect!" Cisco said though his communicator. He opened a breach and encouraged the civilians to run through it, to STAR labs.  
By the time there were very minimal civilians left on the scene, the Flash had circled King Shark enough to distract him. Fortunately, as fast as the beast was, Barry was still faster.  
Vibe readied his weapon, "Barry… move to the left. Woah, Déjà vu…" he whispered thinking about the time he went to take the shot for Grodd in the alternate timeline.  
Suddenly, King Shark grabbed a hold of Barry and began to shake him. "Take your sh…shot, Vibe!" Barry said through gasps. He could barely breath.

Cisco stared down the barrel, holding his breath. He pulled the trigger. It hit King shark in the leg, bringing him down. Barry was released from his clutches. "Okay, Vibe… Let's bring him over to STAR Labs."

As the two of them stepped over to the shark, they were met by a very excited news reporter holding out her phone. "You guys! I saw everything! I need the latest scoop, Flash and… whoever your sidekick is!" It was Iris.  
"Iris?" the Flash asked, phasing his voice. "We need to get this guy back to…"

"Sidekick? Dude, I'm nobody's sidekick." Cisco said angrily, "come on, Flash, before King Shark rege…"  
"King Shark? Is that his name?" Iris interrupted, "Where did he come from? What is he capa…"  
"Look, we need to take this guy somewhere he can't hurt anybody else." Barry said, cutting her off.

"Please! I need my story… and I won't stop until I get it! Central City deserves to know what is going on! There are theories that STAR Labs are behind all these meta-villains!" Iris demanded.  
"Hey! STAR labs are not responsible!" Cisco said trying to hold his temper.  
"Well, is he a result from the meteor shower then?" Iris pestered.

As the three of them were distracted, King Shark quickly regenerated and took out the Flash, and then Vibe and then Iris. With the three of them in his grasp he fled, kidnapping them.


	3. Chapter 3

"And this is why we don't send a man out to…" Astrid began, but Wally interrupted her.  
"That's a little sexist, don't ya think?"  
"Sorry, it's just… now we're down two heroes. And I can't even get a reading of where they are!" she sighed in frustration.  
"So, what do we do?" Caitlin asked them.

"Don't the two of you have powers, as well?" Wally asked, "That shark has my sister now, too."  
"Yeah, because she just had to get her story…" Harry snapped. "We could have had him here by now."  
Caitlin sighed, while there was some truth to what Harry was saying, she knew that Iris wouldn't have known what would have happened. "Harry, she was only doing her job." Caitlin said in Iris' defense, surprising the group.

"Come on, you guys. Let's not start pointing fingers." Astrid said, "Wally. Yes, Caitlin and I do have powers, but while Caitlin's are currently… out of order… Mine could send me a little unstable, as my friends keep telling me."  
"They could?" Wally asked her, "so, there's still a chance that they won't?"  
Astrid looked hopeful at Caitlin, "He does have a point. You did say my chances are slim…"

"Yeah, but your headaches… You couldn't even compel Killer Frost. You haven't entirely tested out your bracelet. How do you think Cisco would feel knowing that you risked your mental health just to save them?" Caitlin asked her.

"Caitlin, Barry is out there too. And Iris. If Cisco gets mad at me, I can deal with that… at least he'll be alive to be angry." Astrid replied.  
"Astrid," Harry began, "I get that ever since you woke up from your coma and revisited your high school rebellion stage, you have been a little more ruthless… but you're also acting very reckless. I have met strong telepaths in the past. We haven't yet comprehended the full strength of your powers, you're not only risking harm to yourself, but also everyone else. You could kill someone."

"Alright." she replied, defeated, "That's the last thing that we need right now. So, we need a plan, but first we need to find them. You don't think he can travel to alternate dimensions do you? I really can't get a reading on him?"  
"He's a shark, right? Maybe he's gone back to the ocean?" Wally suggested. Harry, Caitlin and Astrid stared at him, that was the most obvious choice.  
"That makes sense!" Caitlin said, "It would also mean that you can't read minds if someone is in water."

Harry raced over to Cisco's computer and began typing away, bringing up the satellite cameras. "This should alert us if anything is moving out there. We just need to wait." He said.  
"First of all…" Astrid began, "how did you do that? I had no idea that you knew a thing about computers… Second, I am really not in favor of the wait and see approach… they could be…" she let her voice trail off, the thought that they could be eaten made she, Caitlin and Wally all groan.

"Let me assure the lot of you, that if he was hungry… they would have been eaten by now. But, you said yourself that he's already fed. So chances are, he's keeping them for later." Harry said, ignoring the feelings of discomfort over the group.

Barry was the first to wake to find that he, Cisco and Iris had been captured. They had been left in a tank of some sort, and judging by the motion, they seemed to be floating. They had to be on the river.

Fortunately, they weren't tied up. Cisco and Iris were still unconscious and the King Shark was nowhere to be seen. He tried to reach STAR Labs through his communicator device, but he couldn't get a signal.  
Barry walked over to the large round metal door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. He tried to phase through, but his powers weren't working.  
The tank had to be made from materials that kept his powers at bay. He figured that it was possibly military grade. As he saw his friends start stirring, he ensured that his mask was in place. He wasn't ready for Iris to know his true identity.  
"Hey, man. Where are we?" Cisco said as he sat up a little groggy.

"We're in some sort of tank. I think it's a product from the military, because I can't phase through!" Barry said.  
Cisco got to his feet and readjusted his goggles. "Let's see if I can breach us through." He raised his hand and tried to create a breach, but to his disappointment, nothing happened.

He tried again, still no luck. "Does that door open?" Cisco asked him.  
"Nah, I tried already. I think we're out at sea."  
"Great! We're fish food!" Cisco said dryly. "Where is the big guy, anyway?"  
"I'm not sure. He wasn't here when I woke up."

Suddenly, Iris sat upright. She gasped, "where are we?" she looked over at Cisco and Barry who were both in their costumes and fortunately, she didn't recognize them for who they really were. "If they captured the two of you, I think that means we're doomed." She said glumly.  
"Yeah, so it would seem." Cisco replied.

Iris stared at Barry, he looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't place who he was. Barry could tell that she was trying to work it out, so he refused to speak, knowing that his voice would give away his secret.  
"Hey, Flash. Can't you just do that thing where you travel through walls?" she asked him.  
Barry shook his head to say 'no'.

"We can't use our powers in this tank." Cisco explained. "It must be built by the military or something."  
Iris nodded, she was upset by this news, but she tried to remain calm. But then she recognized Cisco's voice. "Hey, you're that guy up at STAR Labs, aren't you? You're friends of Barry's… and you're dating Astrid Sutherland."

Cisco stared at her. "Who I am, doesn't matter, what does matter is trying to figure out a way to get out of this damn thing. But then, what 's the point? You're going to make up your assumptions about who we are and write an article on us… That's if we ever get out of here! If we're not eaten first!"  
"Shh…" Barry said, getting their attention. He could hear something. He stood up to focus his hearing, Cisco and Iris stood up and they could hear it too. Suddenly, they could feel the impact and hear the loud bang of the tank bumping into something that sounded like a rocky cave.  
"I think we've been taken somewhere!" Cisco said. They were concerned as to where and why.


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid found Caitlin hiding away in her medical bay. She seemed upset. "We're going to get them back, Caitlin. If Barry's able to travel back through time, I'm sure he'll find a way to get back to us."  
"Their communicators have gone dead. They would be back by now. It's clear that wherever they are, they can't use their powers. Have you been able to reach Cisco's mind, at least?" Caitlin asked.  
Astrid shook her head, "No. not yet."  
"So, why are we just…" Before Caitlin could continue, Wally rushed over to them, "I just got off the phone to my dad. He said that there was a military tank located off the coast, but now it's gone."

"Military grade?" Astrid asked. "Those guys know just as much about the kryptonite radiation as we do. If Barry and Cisco have been put into one of them... It would explain why they're not back yet." She ran another scan of Central City. "Screw this… I'm not just standing around and doing nothing any longer!"  
She stormed out of the medical bay and made her way towards the elevator with Caitlin, Wally and Harry behind her. She pressed the call button.  
"What are you doing, Astrid?" Caitlin asked her.  
"King Shark is back in town. I'm going to make him tell me where they are!" she snapped.  
"That's suicide!" Caitlin called after her.

Harry stepped in front of her, blocking the elevator doors. He was holding his thermo-gun.  
"What is this, Harry? Are you going to stand in my way?" she asked him.  
"I can't let you do this, Astrid!" Harry said sternly.

"Here's the deal, Harry. Jaws has Cisco, Barry and Iris locked away somewhere. He eats people… and as terrified as I am right now, I know that I'm probably the only one who can do anything to save them. So, you can either try and stop me… and I will risk my mental instability to take you down… or you can come with me, and we can get them back…" She glared at him, daring him to make his move.  
After a moment, Harry sighed, "Fine. Where is he? We'll do this together!"

The group made their way down to the underground carpark, and climbed into one of STAR labs vans, immediately driving it out into the streets of Central City, which were practically abandoned.  
As Harry drove, Astrid directed him using her mind scan. But just as she managed to pinpoint his exact location she was alarmed, "Harry! Drive us to that corner! Step on it! He's behind us!"

As Harry prepared to speed up, they felt the impact of something crashing into their van and pushing it into a building.  
The van turned onto its side as it made it's landing. Harry had smacked his head on the steering wheel, though none of them had been severely injured.  
Astrid lifted her head and looked around. "Harry, Caitlin, Wally… you guys need to wake up!" None of them would wake, but she sensed that they were all okay.

She brought her senses to the crisis at hand, King Shark was trying lure them out. She could see the sky through the window of her door. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, pushing hard to climb out of the vehicle. She was now standing on the side of the van.  
This was the first time that she had seen King Shark in person. She was terrified, but as he turned to her, she turned up the dial on her bracelet a little and prepared herself for what was to come next.

She let off a searing mind scream right in his direction. It stunned him, but it didn't seem to affect him too much. "Okay, I'll dial this up a little!" she said to herself, as she wound the bracelet a little more.  
King shark had spotted her and she could barely think as he charged for her. She needed to stop him, but at the same time, not kill him.  
As fear swam over her, she knew that it was now or never, she let off another mind scream. This one had the desired effect. It brought the shark to his knees, he clutched at his head.

Astrid was relieved by the impact, but as she was about to compel him, it was clear that he was brought down by a tranquilizer. The military had arrived on to the scene.  
As she jumped off the van and ran towards the beast, the military began to push her away. "Miss, you and your friends need to leave now!" one of the soldiers told her.  
"No, he knows the whereabouts of…" she began to protest, as Harry, Caitlin and Wally had joined her.

The soldier loaded up his gun. "...I'm not going to ask you again, miss! This is private property!"  
"We need to listen to him." Caitlin replied, as she attempted to pull her friend away.  
Astrid was ready to protest, but by the looks of the soldier's guns, she knew that she would be risking their own lives.  
She left with her friends, angrily.


	5. Chapter 5

"How could we just let them take him?" Astrid snapped once the group had returned back to STAR Labs. "Now we have no chance in finding the others."  
"I get that you're mad, Astrid… I am too, but what were we supposed to do? We barely just survived that accident, and we're all still in a little shock." Caitlin said.

"At least we know one thing…" Harry announced, "that wherever they are, they're not with King Shark. Now, I'm assuming the military were only here to locate their missing possession, which now they have done, he will no longer be a problem… I'm also guessing that whatever tank they were keeping him in, is the tank that our friends are in. Military tanks normally have a tracking code…"  
"So, what you're saying is that if we track this code, we find the tank?" Wally clarified.  
"Precisely, West!" Harry replied.

"That would be easy, if our computer nerd wasn't in the tank that we're looking for." Astrid argued back.  
"I'm certain that Cisco isn't the only computer nerd that you know." Harry said.  
"He's talking about Felicity…" Caitlin began.  
"Yeah… I figured… I suppose that means that I will need to make the call." Astrid replied. She left to do so.

Meanwhile, Barry, Cisco and Iris were still locked away in the tank.  
"I don't think anyone is coming back for us." Iris said out loud. "What do you think that they kept in here?"  
Barry cleared his throat and tried to disguise his voice as best as he could. "I think it was where the military kept him."  
Iris stared at the Flash, astonished that he had just spoken to her. She got to her feet, "Why do you think he brought us here?"

Barry turned his face away, for most of their lives they had always been so close, he wondered if she had any suspicions of who he really was. His mind was brought back to Caitlin and of how she would react knowing that he was locked away with the woman, who had been the love of his life for such a long time, until Caitlin of course.  
Cisco, who was still wearing his goggles, cleared his throat and looked at Barry, he knew that Barry needed to keep his identity a secret, so he spoke up to take the limelight from him.

"My guess… he wants to keep us for lunch later… or maybe to feed his creepy shark babies… if he has some. Sorry, that was just mean…"  
Iris stared at him and raised her eyebrows. "That's not helping."  
Cisco shook his head and sat across from Barry, speaking under his breath to the speedster, "you know, that voice disguise wasn't fooling anyone, buddy."  
Barry nodded and looked over at Iris, he understood.

"Neither one of you need to hide who you really are. I'm not going to tell anybody." Iris said, standing up to address them.  
"Well excuse me… Weren't you the one who has been writing stories on STAR Labs ever since you began those blogs? You even tried to frame us for kidnapping…" Cisco stopped midsentence as he realized that he had just said 'us'.

Unfortunately for him, Iris had also heard his mistake. "Us? So you are who I thought you were!"  
"Did I say us? That was because STAR Labs have, you know, helped me from time to time. With my powers, I mean." Cisco was trying to improvise. Barry glared at him, so Cisco stopped talking.

"You said us… you are Cisco Ramon… The mechanical engineer. I should have known!" Iris said with a grin. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me… Does Astrid know?"  
Cisco looked away, he wasn't going to fall into the reporter's trap and give up any more secrets.  
"So who is the Flash?" Iris asked from over his shoulder. "Is it someone I know?"

They both shook their heads and turned away.  
Back at STAR labs, Astrid was on the phone to Felicity.  
"I have the tracking code!" Felicity said.

"You do? But that only took… Never mind, what is it? Where's it located?" Astrid was surprised.  
"Of course I do… I'm Felicity Smoak… You have heard of me right? Anyway, it's up the river. I'm sending you the coordinates now!"  
Relief washed over her face. "We found them!" she told the rest of the team.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure that you want to go, Caitlin?" Astrid asked her, "you said that you and Wally were still dealing with the shock of the accident that we were in. I'm not sure if we should really be bringing Wally out."  
Wally who had overheard their conversation approached them. "I'm seriously fine. I wasn't injured, yeah I was a little shaken up but I want to come with you."  
"Under one condition, you call detective West." Harry said.

"Noted. I'm doing that now." Wally made the call, and when he had finished, he was disappointed by the outcome.  
"Let me guess, the detective said no?" Harry asked him.  
"Not exactly," Wally replied. "The military are on their way to retrieving the tank now."

"These military are beginning to be a pain in my ass." Astrid said as she made haste for the elevator doors. "Barry and Cisco are both in their costumes… they're going to be caught and I don't think that the military will go easy on them."  
"So how do you suppose we help them?" Caitlin asked.

"I managed my mind scream just fine earlier. Pack me some pain meds, Snow… because I am going to compel the whole lot of them…" Astrid replied.  
"You're going to compel a group of military men? No!" Caitlin said shocked, "this isn't like the time that you compelled CCPD to forget that Barry was the Flash after what happened with Grodd… they are the military, Astrid. They could anti telepathic gear in place."

"Yeah, and Cisco and Barry are in trouble. You know what those guys are capable of. Why do you think they removed all that kryptonite to begin with? They want super soldiers, and my guess is that that's their use for King Shark… and when they find Barry and Cisco… well, I won't let that happen! Besides, aside from Grodd… who we have underground, how many other telepaths do you think they have come across?" Astrid was angry at that point.

Harry wanted to argue with the girl, but he could see Dr Fate across the room. Fortunately, no one else could. He stared at the being, who just nodded. This was clearly another one of Astrid's tests. He needed to stand aside and allow her to do so.  
"Fine, Sutherland… If this is what you must do! But I need you to promise me… that compulsion will be a last resort. We will find another way to get them back, first." Harry said.  
Caitlin glared at him, she was hoping that he would side with her and not go with Astrid's foolish plan.

Astrid looked over at Wally with a smile, "Call Joe back… Tell him, we're going to need CCPD's help! We need Singh on board!"  
As the group took a second van out of the parking lot, Caitlin groaned. "I really hope we don't have a repeat of last time."  
"Relax, Caitlin." Wally replied, "It was kinda fun. I go drag racing a lot so…"  
Caitlin glared at him, "You know that's dangerous, I don't need to know this…"

Harry drove the van over to the coordinates that Felicity had given them, which turned out to be near a bunch of old underwater caves. He parked the van in the bushes and they saw, as they had expected, a group of military men arriving onto the scene. There were a lot of them.  
"Do you guys have a plan?" Captain Singh whispered from behind them, "Joe said that Barry is in a tank down there… and with those men in our city… it can't bode well for any of us."

Joe stepped up beside the Captain, "Iris and Cisco are in there too. So whatever we're going to do, we need to be smart about it. There's a lot of guys up there."  
"And I'm guessing that there is a lot of them in the caves too." Harry replied.  
"Actually they only just got there. But there might be a few... They also have that beast down there..." Singh replied, "I've had my men watching this site since you called."  
Astrid nodded, "I might be able to get in there and use my ability to stay undetected. I'll bring Dr Wells with me. I can't risk anyone getting hurt. Singh, can you and Joe…"

"…Act as a distraction?" Singh asked her.  
"Yeah, I feel bad for asking but, we have no other choice." Astrid said.  
Singh nodded, "this city needs the Flash… I'm not going to just hand him over to those guys. You can count on me."  
"And me!" Joe replied. "They're my kids in there… I won't risk anything happening to either one of them… and that includes Cisco too."  
"Me too!" Wally added in.

"Uh no, son!" Joe said, "You're keeping out of this one, Caitlin… do you mind getting him out of here?"  
"I was going to say the same thing!" Caitlin replied, "Astrid, please be careful. Harry… make sure that everyone comes back safe!"  
"That's my objective, Dr Snow." Harry replied.

Before Astrid could turn away, Joe gave her a hug, "Stay safe, kiddo." He told her.  
As Astrid let go of him, she adjusted the dial on her bracelet and focused on keeping herself and Harry invisible to the military men.  
It took a lot of energy, though fortunately she was able to manage. They kept to the bushes, Harry with his thermo-gun at the ready and Astrid focusing on her abilities.  
Finally, they found themselves approximately five meters from the cave opening. There were two soldiers with their weapons at the ready. Astrid and Harry waited in the bush, as they could overhear Joe and Captain Singh approaching the military men.  
"Put your hands up!" the general barked at Captain Singh and Detective West.

The two of them did as they were asked, but Singh chose to address them, "I'm Captain Singh of the CCPD. I have the right to ask what you're doing in my city."  
Astrid and Harry waited for the moment that the two soldiers, who were patrolling the cave entrance, left to join their fellow soldiers to interrogate the officers. They made a run for the cave, praying that they wouldn't be caught.


	7. Chapter 7

"Did you guys hear that?" Iris asked, as there was a faint rumbling from outside of the tank.  
Cisco and Barry focused their senses.

"I think there's someone out there!" Cisco said, he ran to the door and begun calling for help, until the Flash pulled him back. Barry put his finger to his lips, asking them both to be quiet. They could hear the large door being opened from the outside, so he pulled Cisco and Iris away.  
The large door screeched open, piercing their ears. They were frightened at who they saw. It was a military man holding up a rifle. "Nanaue… Well, at least you have lunch for the ride back home!" The soldier said. But, then he noticed who the occupants were.

"Hey, you're the Flash…" He said with a malicious grin. "You'll make an exceptional soldier."  
Barry wanted to run at him, but the tank around him still dampened his powers, and behind the soldier he saw King Shark. There was no running from this predicament.  
The soldier turned back, to his comrades. "Bring me some of those power dampening cuffs." He said.  
Cisco groaned, he hated that one of his most brilliant inventions could be used on him in such a way, it really sucked.

Suddenly, King Shark broke free from his bindings and lifted the soldier in front of them. The soldier dropped his rifle, and was shaken violently.  
"It seems their little pet has turned on them," Cisco smirked.  
They shielded their faces as the soldier was killed before them, and thrown to their feet. Barry looked up at King Shark, ready to grab his friends if needed, but the shark just turned away and launched at the other soldiers.

There was confusion amongst the soldiers, and as Barry, Cisco and Iris stepped forward they looked around at what lay outside of the tank that they had been held in.  
The soldiers and King shark were all fighting amongst themselves. Even some of the soldiers were fighting their own men.  
"What are you guys waiting for?" a familiar voice ran towards them, it was Astrid. She was standing with DR Wells. "Flash… Your powers should work, get Iris to her father, now. He's waiting outside the cave." She demanded.

Barry did as she commanded of him, and Cisco ran up and embraced her, delighted to see her. "While I'm glad to see you too, Cisco… I am focusing my energy on us not being caught. It's… It's getting harder to hold them back…" She groaned.  
Harry who had his weapon at the ready said, "Ramon, Breach us to STAR Labs, now!"

Cisco let go of Astrid and immediately formed the breach. But as they ran through, King Shark managed to slip from her compulsion and also escaped, following them through the breach to STAR Labs, without them realizing.

Barry made it to the outside the cave with Iris. He found Wally and Caitlin near one of STAR Labs' vans, though he did not see Joe.  
Iris hugged her brother, and Barry had to resist the temptation to embrace Caitlin, for fear that it would blow his cover in front Iris. Fortunately, Caitlin understood this.  
"Iris, are you okay?" Caitlin asked her.

"I'm, I'm fine. The Flash saved me." She exclaimed. "I'm surprised that Barry isn't here… have you seen my dad? Astrid said that he was out here."  
"And I am…" Joe said as he and Singh approached them, "Let's get you all out of here, before the military imprison the lot of us."  
The Flash nodded at Caitlin, and took off in the blink of an eye.

Joe embraced his daughter, "I'm glad that you're alright! How did you get mixed in with all of this?"  
"Dad, I was given the opportunity to write an amazing article… I couldn't turn it down!" she replied.  
"Iris… An article? Don't tell me you're going to expose the Flash and STAR Labs after everything that they have done for you!" Joe said, glancing over at the very concerned DR Snow and Wally.

"This article is going to change everything! I'm not just going to be a coffee girl, anymore! I'm going to be a reporter!" Iris said with excitement.  
"Hey Joe. Would you mind taking me back over to STAR Labs?" Caitlin asked politely.  
"That I can do, DR Snow." Joe replied, storming away.

As DR Wells, Barry, Cisco and Astrid stood in the cortex, they received a message from Caitlin about Iris' impending news article. "What did you guys tell her?" Astrid asked in a huff.  
But before they could respond, DR Wells put up his hand to silence them.

Astrid preformed her mind scan and knew exactly what was wrong, her eyes grew wide. King Shark was in their building. "Gideon… Can you locate the King Shark?" Astrid asked.  
"Team, the beast is currently…" Before Gideon could respond, Dr Wells was lifted up by the beast, he dropped his thermo-gun in the process. The man shark was about to eat him, when Astrid let off a shrill mind scream, all the more powerful than before.

It brought the King Shark down instantly, but as she was in his mind she saw that it was too much for the beast to bare. She saw a glimpse of his past. He was weakened, but he also wasn't a meta-beast. He was something else entirely.  
"Cisco! Barry! You guys need to take him to the strongest tanks down below in the pipeline! He's not a meta! Go! Now!" She shouted, through her crippling headache.  
They did as she had demanded instantly. Cisco formed the breach and Barry took him. Then they returned, as she was breathing through the pain. The pain finally subsided and Harry approached them.

"You said he wasn't a meta…" Barry said after a while, "Then what was he?"  
"Something far worse!" Astrid said under her breath. "So much worse! Harry, you knew what he was, and you didn't tell us?"  
"Yes, I knew. It's why I didn't want you to go up against him, in the first place!" Dr Wells snapped.  
"So, what is King Shark?" Cisco asked confused, as Caitlin, Joe and Wally entered the cortex.  
"He was the offspring of a god." Harry said, making them all groan.


	8. Chapter 8

Barry held Caitlin in his arms, relieved that he could do so freely without Iris finding out his true identity.  
"I can't believe that the lot of you took down the son of a shark god!" Joe said surprised.  
"That part was Astrid." Cisco said, as he put his arm around her, "she shouldn't have done it… but I'm glad that she did. And that she's actually fine… girl, you are fine!" she blushed, but she had a funny feeling about something.

"Well, I'm not sure that I can say the same for the rest of us…" Joe replied, "The lot of you just intercepted something that the military call their own."  
"He's right… and I can sense them at our doors." Astrid said alerted by the notion.  
"I believe you are correct, Miss Sutherland." Gideon's voice rang out over the lot of them. "They have tracked the beast known as King Shark to this facility and are requesting that our staff open the doors for them."

Astrid stormed towards the elevator. "Where are you going?" Barry asked her.  
"We're going to meet them at the entrance. We need them to believe that we don't have him here." She replied.  
Barry changed back into his regular clothes, and then the group of them made their way down to the bottom floor where they found their employees terrified by the men who were waiting at the entrance.

"Gideon, open the doors." Dr Wells said, after receiving the nod from Astrid.  
"Right away, Dr Wells!" Gideon said, and instantly the doors opened before them.  
The general himself stood with an angry glare pointed in Astrid's direction. "I believe that you have something of ours, Miss Sutherland!" his voice boomed at her.  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Sir." She replied.

Barry noticed something in his ear, fortunately he was the only one wearing one. Barry grasped Astrid's attention and rubbed at his ear, subtly. She realized what he was gesturing at. The man had an anti-telepathy device in.  
The general stormed passed them. "Where is he?" He yelled at the group, scaring some of the innocent employees who were on the floor.  
"I don't know who you're talking about!" Astrid lied, "But I'm more than willing to give you a tour of our facility."  
The general glared at Astrid, but he ensured that most of his men waited for him downstairs. However, he took two of his men with him and allowed Astrid to lead them through the facility.

Astrid kept her head down, as she led the group. When they were in a secluded hallway, she sent a telepathic message to Barry, asking for him to quickly swipe the device that the general was wearing.

When he had, Astrid immediately turned to the general, who already had his weapon aimed at her. "You will lower your weapon, general. And you will ask that your men do the same!" she compelled him.  
The soldiers did as they were ordered, including the general.

"We do not have the shark man that you are looking for." Astrid continued to compel him. "All I ask is that you and your men leave us in peace."  
The general obeyed Astrid's command and left with his troops as the group returned back to the cortex.  
"Wow, Jedi… you're really getting used to your powers." Cisco said, slightly intimated by his girlfriend.  
"I know… that was far too close. We can't keep that beast here, nor can we keep Grodd here either." Astrid replied.  
"I agree. It just seems so dangerous!" Caitlin replied.  
"But what other choice do we have?" Wally asked.

"I might have an idea!" Harry said, "Mr Ramon. If you will accompany me, your ability to breach will prove very useful. We will breach them both to separate earths. Ones that will keep them from causing trouble to anyone else." Cisco nodded and obediently followed Harry to the pipelines below.  
"This just leaves one final situation for us to deal with." Joe spoke up. "The issue with Iris' newspaper article."

"Leave that with me." Barry replied. "Maybe, now that the Flash can use his powers, he might be able to talk some sense in to her."  
Caitlin hoped that Barry was right. She kissed him, and he left to speak with the reporter.


	9. Chapter 9

"Cisco, you and Harry never told us where you sent King Shark and Gorilla Grodd," Astrid said as she sat beside him at his work desk, the next morning.  
"Harry gave me the locations to some place filled with nothing but oceans for King Shark and I think a replica planet to the one on the planet of the apes for Grodd. He was given that idea by that other Wells." Cisco replied.

"As long as they don't hurt anyone, I'm happy. Let's just hope it doesn't come back to bite us later!" she said.  
"Like these things generally do..." Cisco said with a smirk.

"So, I think the Flash's talk with Iris went very well!" Barry said proudly, cutting them off, as he entered the cortex, holding a copy of the Picture News' latest edition.  
"What did you say to her?" Caitlin asked him a little concerned. He handed her the copy of the paper that he had brought in and she read the article that had made the front page.  
"Did she name and shame me for being Vibe?" Cisco asked as he read over Caitlin's shoulder.

"You will all be very pleased to hear that I was an inspiring hero. I think my speech went a little something like the military are proof that people can't know who we are. They will use our abilities against us…" Barry said happily.  
Astrid grinned, "No you didn't." she said as she read over the article herself.  
"Okay, no I didn't… I begged her not to give up our secrets." Barry said defeated.

"While I love that I didn't get called a sidekick… I'm not loving the fact that I didn't even get a mention in this article." Cisco said, a little glum.  
"Wow, but I did?" Astrid said surprised. She read out loud the part that had her name. "Astrid Sutherland was more than willing to rescue The Flash and this reporter who were held hostage by the villain known as King Shark."

The group went silent as they realized how smitten by the Flash that Iris was.  
Caitlin spoke up, "At least STAR Labs wasn't put in a bad light this time."

"Astrid, would you mind if Caitlin and I took the day off today?" Barry asked, "I mean even though I live with her… I just feel that Caitlin and I need a little quality bonding time."  
"Go for it!" Astrid said. "Cisco and I have things handled here."  
"Oh yeah, we do!" Cisco said excitedly.  
"Oh, keep your mind out of the gutter, Cisco." Caitlin laughed at him. She and Barry left for some bonding time.


	10. Chapter 10

General Wade Eiling, the general who had gone to STAR Labs and had been compelled by Astrid, met with his superior.  
"Did you find the creature?" his superior asked of him.  
"No, sir. There were complications. There was no sign of him at STAR Labs." Eiling replied.  
"That's clearly what they want you to think. Keep an eye on STAR Labs. They are hiding more than they are letting on."  
"Yes sir!" General Eiling replied.


End file.
